HOUSE BILL No. 5340 February 10, 2000, Introduced by Rep. Law and referred to the Committee on Appropriations. A bill to amend 1999 PA 94, entitled "Michigan merit award scholarship act," by amending section 7 (MCL 390.1457). THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 7. (1) The Michigan merit award scholarship program is 2 established. The board shall administer the Michigan merit award 3 scholarship program. 4 (2) Subject to subsection (6), each student enrolled in 5 grade 11 in or after the1998-19991997-1998 school year who 6 meets the requirements of subsection (4), and subject to adjust- 7 ment under subsection (5), is eligible for the award of a 8 $2,500.00 Michigan merit award scholarship if the student is 9 enrolled in an approved postsecondary educational institution in 10 this state or the award of a $1,000.00 Michigan merit award 11 scholarship if the student is enrolled in an approved 05547'99 DAM 2 1 postsecondary educational institution outside this state, if the 2 board finds that the student while in high school has taken the 3 assessment test in the subject areas of reading, writing, mathe- 4 matics, and science and meets 1 of the following: 5 (a) Has received qualifying results in each of the subject 6 areas of reading, writing, mathematics, and science. 7 (b) Did not receive qualifying results in 1 or 2 of the 8 subject areas of reading, writing, mathematics, and science, but 9 received an overall score in the top 25% of a nationally recog- 10 nized college admission examination. 11 (c) Did not receive qualifying results in 1 or 2 of the 12 subject areas of reading, writing, mathematics, and science, but 13 received a qualifying score or scores as determined by the board 14 on a nationally recognized job skills assessment test designated 15 by the board. 16 (3) Subject to subsection (6) and to adjustment under sub- 17 section (5), a student who was enrolled in grade 7 in or after 18 the 1999-2000 school year and who the board finds has taken the 19 assessment test in each of the subject areas while in grades 7 20 and 8 is eligible for 1 of the following additional Michigan 21 merit award scholarships: 22 (a) If the board finds that the student while in grades 7 23 and 8 received qualifying results in 2 of the subject areas of 24 reading, writing, mathematics, and science, an additional 25 Michigan merit award scholarship of $250.00. 26 (b) If the board finds that the student while in grades 7 27 and 8 received qualifying results in 3 of the subject areas of 05547'99 3 1 reading, writing, mathematics, and science, an additional 2 Michigan merit award scholarship of $375.00. 3 (c) If the board finds that the student while in grades 7 4 and 8 received qualifying results in all of the subject areas of 5 reading, writing, mathematics, and science, an additional 6 Michigan merit award scholarship of $500.00. 7 (4) In addition to the requirements set forth in subsections 8 (2) and (3), to be eligible for the award of 1 or both Michigan 9 merit award scholarships under this section, the board must find 10 that a student satisfies all of the following: 11 (a) The student has graduated from high school or passed the 12 general educational development (GED) test or other graduate 13 equivalency examination approved by the state board. 14 (b) The student graduated from high school or passed the 15 general educational development (GED) test or other graduate 16 equivalency examination approved by the state board within the 17 7-year period preceding the student's application to receive his 18 or her Michigan merit award scholarship money. 19 (c) The student is enrolled in an approved postsecondary 20 educational institution. For students who qualify under subsec- 21 tion (2)(c), the student is enrolled in a vocational or technical 22 education program at an approved postsecondary educational 23 institution. 24 (d) The student has not been convicted of a felony involving 25 an assault, physical injury, or death. 26 (e) The student satisfies any additional eligibility 27 requirements established by the board. 05547'99 4 1 (5) In any fiscal year, the board may adjust the amount of a 2 Michigan merit award scholarship available to students eligible 3 under 1 or more of subsections (2), (3), and (9), based upon its 4 determination of available resources and amounts appropriated, 5 but the board shall not increase an amount by more than 5% in any 6 fiscal year. The board shall notify the governor, the speaker of 7 the house of representatives, and the majority leader of the 8 senate in writing at least 30 days before an adjustment under 9 this subsection. 10 (6) For assessment tests administered after January 1, 2000, 11 the board shall not use the assessment test to determine eligi- 12 bility for a Michigan merit award scholarship under this section 13 for a particular year unless the board has reviewed and approved 14 the assessment test before it was administered for that year. 15 (7) The board shall provide each student written notice of 16 whether or not the student is eligible for the award of 1 or more 17 Michigan merit award scholarships described in this section. If 18 the student is eligible, the written notice shall also contain 19 the Michigan merit award scholarship amount for which the student 20 is eligible, how the student applies for payment of Michigan 21 merit award scholarship, and any other information the board con- 22 siders necessary regarding qualification requirements or condi- 23 tions relating to the use of the Michigan merit award 24 scholarship. 25 (8) It is the intent of the legislature that the level of 26 student performance required to achieve qualifying results in a 27 subject area of an assessment test remains approximately the 05547'99 5 1 same, and that the board not reduce the required level of student 2 performance as a means of increasing the number of Michigan merit 3 award scholarships awarded. 4 (9) If a student who has previously received a $1,000.00 5 Michigan merit award scholarship as a student enrolled in an 6 approved postsecondary educational institution outside of this 7 state enrolls in an approved postsecondary educational institu- 8 tion in this state and meets the requirements of subsection (4), 9 and subject to adjustment under subsection (5), the student is 10 eligible for the award of an additional $1,500.00 Michigan merit 11 award scholarship. 12 (10) A pupil who does not initially receive qualifying 13 results shall be extended an opportunity to achieve the requisite 14 qualifying results by taking a subsequent assessment test. 15 (11) A nonpublic school student or home school student may 16 take, and the board shall administer if requested, an assessment 17 test at a site designated by the board. 05547'99 Final page. 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